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By Joe Buscaglia

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Bills closing in on next phase of team's sale

by Joe Buscaglia,posted May 20 2014 12:48PM

When it comes to the future of the Buffalo Bills, nothing is certain past the obvious fact that the franchise will have a new owner at some point in the future. Since the passing of founder and owner Ralph C. Wilson, Jr., the covering cloak of the sale process has slowly been lifted, revealing the steps for the oncoming transaction.

The annual NFL Spring Meeting is taking place in Atlanta this week, with Bills Team President and CEO Russ Brandon in attendance as one of the team's representatives. Speaking with a handful of local reporters including Tim Graham of The Buffalo News, Adam Benigni of WGRZ and John Kryk of The Toronto Sun, Brandon provided some additional details of the next phase in the sale.

He said he believes that an investment bank and law firm, that would be in charge of vetting any party interested in purchasing the team, should be named by the end of the month. He later revealed, according to Graham, that the firm could even be named within the next few days.

Brandon told reporters that the interest in purchasing the Bills, in his opinion, is "high." As Graham points out in his article, the team's president and CEO has been the go-to guy in speaking with prospective owners. Once the investment bank is in place to audit those individuals or groups, they will take over those duties from Brandon.

According to Kryk, Brandon wouldn't disclose the "framework" of stipulations in Wilson's will regarding who can and cannot purchase the team, and also wouldn't committ to any specific timeline for the sale of the Bills. However, according to Benigni, he said the vote on a new owner during the league's meetings in October "remains a possibility."

The NFL Spring Meetings extend through Wednesday, which is the last of the three days, before all parties fly back to their respective cities.